Controversial UWS Construction Site Fined After Worker Falls

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A contractor on the Upper West Side was just fined $15,000 after a worker fell 25-feet off a ladder while working on a controversial construction site at 50 West 69th Street in the summer of 2020.

The Department of Buildings released on Tuesday its penalty enforcements for August, September, and October, which provide highlights of the agency’s actions to sanction and deter bad actors in the construction industry.

Here's a breakdown of what happened at 50 West 69th Street and the lack of safety measures found by DOB inspectors at the site.

• 50 West 69th Street (between Columbus and Central Park West) is a permitted construction site to combine two neighboring 5-story buildings into a single building.
• On Aug. 22, 2020, DOB inspectors were called to the scene to investigate reports of a worker fall.
• It was determined that a steelworker was climbing up a ladder at the site to perform decking operations when they fell off the ladder and landed roughly 25-feet below.
• The worker was taken to the hospital in stable condition, but was complaining about back injuries.

An investigation determined that the contractor did not implement the required safety measures to secure the ladder. There were inadequate guardrails and fall protection measures at the site, according to the DOB.

Inspectors also found that the safety log book on-site did not include evidence that a pre-shift safety meeting for the workers had been held.

The DOB subsequently issued a Full Stop Work Order at the site, which remained in effect until Sept. 3, when the contractor corrected the violations.

The contractor then paid the $15,000 in penalties to the city.

The Basement Pool

The construction at 48-50 West 69th Street has been in the news before, specifically in a full-length New York Times feature in 2019 about the nonstop and loud construction for the Upper West Side address' renovation.

Most notably among that construction to combine the two buildings was creating a basement pool that is 10 by 60 feet and 37-feet under the sidewalk, reported the New York Times.

The story features multiple neighbors' accounts of how the noise had upended their lives and forced many of them to move out of nearby buildings.

It is unclear if that project is still going on, but Google Maps show scaffolding still standing outside the address in August 2021.

Read It: That Noise? The Rich Neighbors Digging a Basement Pool in Their $100 Million Brownstone